Rogers adds 18 more sites to its LTE coverage map

The big talk over the last couple of years has been 4G LTE. Known as Long Term Evolution, it is capable of pretty impressive data speeds. Canadian cell carrier Rogers began deploying LTE last year. It is continuing that deployment by recently adding 18 new LTE sites to its coverage map.

With the deployment, Rogers claims that they can now provide LTE to 60% of Canadians. The new LTE sites include:

This adds a very nice compliment to the metropolitan areas that already have 4G LTE coverage. These areas include Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Toronto, and Ottawa. It is especially great news for Rogers customers with LTE-capable phones who can now actually use LTE.

When does Rogers plan to finish its LTE coverage?

Unfortunately, there has been no word on that yet. It will probably be quite some time before they do. If you check out the Rogers network coverage map, you’ll see that LTE is still a very small footprint. Most of its coverage area is still HSPA+.

Aside from launching their next wave of LTE, Rogers also took some time to list some fun facts. Since their first LTE site went live last year, Rogers has seen an 80% increase in data traffic. That makes sense, since web browsing on a 4G network is much more enjoyable than it was on 3G.

Although Rogers is expanding their LTE network, do remember to check out the coverage map before traveling. The LTE sites are in most big cities which is great. However, once you leave the big cities you’ll be stuck with 3G again. The focus is getting it to as many people as possible right now. So travelers will have to wait a little longer before they get LTE on road trips.

Has anyone living in these new areas tried out the new LTE yet? How is it? Let us know in the comments!